cliff is just 42 days away. there are some new numbers. this morning on how the public is viewing the economic showdown on the hill. first, mika -- >> let's get to the developing story of the middle east this morning. secretary of state hillary clinton has left cambodia today to head to the middle east to try and help bring an end to the violence raging in the region. as the death toll surpasses 100 in gaza, there are no immediate signs that either side is ready to embrace calls for a cease-fire. rocket fire is now entering its seventh day there. the white house says secretary clinton will meet with israeli prime minister netanyahu in jerusalem. palestinian authorities in ramallah and later travel to cairo where officials are said to be proposing for a truce. egyptian president mohamed morsi is seen as a critical player. he met yesterday with u.n. secretary ban ki-moon. turkey's prime minister complicated matters when he reefr referred to israel as a terrorist state after attending talks in egypt.

president obama spoke by phone yesterday to both morsi and netanyahu during his trip to southeast asia. in gaza hamas is calling for israel to stop killing its leaders and end a six-year blockade. meanwhile, new explosions continued through palestinian territory. they say they targeted the national islamic bank which they accuse hamas of using to pay its employees. an nbc analysis found israel has killed nearly 40 hamas militants over the last week, often using high precision drone strikes but the civilian toll has been high as well. thousands of people turned out for the funerals of four young children killed in an israeli air strike. meanwhile, israel's so-called iron dome missile defense has helped keep most missiles out of heavily populated areas. still some have made it through,

like this rocket that hit a school. joining us now, nbc's eamon ayman in gaza. >> reporter: according to israeli military, more than 100 hit the gaza strip. this morning palestinian officials say the death toll from the past seven days has now reached 115 palestinians. nearly a third of them children. earlier this morning, four killed, two brothers and a father killed in an incident that pushed that death toll up to 115. all of this happening against a back drop of continuing violence. palestinian factions were still able to fire at least 50 rockets into israel in the past 14 hours. an indication their capacity to fight back has not necessarily been diminished by the nonstop aerial bombardment over the past seven days. all of this coming against the back drop of diplomatic activity in the region, as you mentioned. the big test here is going to be

not only about bringing the two sides together, but who is going to guarantee the success of this? one big issue israel wants is it wants mohamed morsi to personally vouch for the success of this deal, to personally vouch for hamas. at the same time hamas is asking for united nations and international community to guarantee that israel will lift its six-year-old blockade that has stifled life. there are some similarities, some commonalities, but if they can get the situation in place before it escalates into a ground invasion. >> live in gaza, thanks. despite incoming barrage of more than 1,000 rockets last week, death and damage in israel has been kept to a minimum. that's due in large part to the country's state of the air defenses we were just talking about. martin fletcher reports it's reshaping the dynamics of this long-running conflict. >> reporter: everyone's

desperate to know, ground invasion of gaza or truce? officials say it's 50/50. leaving 3.5 million israelis at the mercy of palestinian rockets. defended by israel's new hero, the iron dome. an antimissile defense system made in israel, helped by american money. 900 rockets fired at israel in six days, only about 30 hit populated areas. >> we enjoy the iron dome, which is a huge success. luckily -- >> reporter: there's a siren now. there's a siren now over -- let's see what happens. it will only fire. the system calculates which rockets will hit an inhabited area and knocks it out, like here. and ignores all others. but it fails, too, missing 2 out of 10shgs officials say, making life scary. children in bomb shelters for the sixth straight day.

i'm afraid of the siren, this 7-year-old says. another siren. we're just going in the shelter. and just as we left -- not sure how many rockets are being fired right now but the iron dome -- one, two, three, four iron dome rockets are exploding. we'll see what damage it did. five rockets fired from gaza, four intercepted, one got through and fell in a garden. there's some drama right now because nobody knows exactly what happened, whether there are casualties. terrifying some neighbors. others, defiant. >> we will survive. we will survive. >> that was nbc's martin fletcher reporting from southern israel. federal officials say they've broken up a terror plot in southern california where four men were planning to join al qaeda. the suspects are accused of plotting to bomb targets

overseas and here at home. one man traveled to afghanistan to establish contacts with terrorists. if convicted, the defendants will face up to 50 years in prison. to the ongoing probe of attacks on u.s. embassy in benghazi. top officials tell nbc news they knew from the beginning that terrorism was involved but the white house is denying claims there was an attempt to hide the information to help president obama's re-election campaign. u.n. ambassador susan rice has come under fire for saying the attack was a reaction to anti-islamic video. officials say they intentionally kept ambassador rice's talking points vague to avoid compromising future legal proceedings. while they knew terrorism was involved they didn't know if the attacks were planned in advance and they didn't have the suspects' identities. still am house republicans are blaming ambassador rice, saying she's unfit to succeed secretary hillary clinton at the state department should president obama decide to nominate her for

the post. nearly 100 republican congressmen sent a letter to president obama saying ambassador rice's statements on benghazi have, quote, caused irreparable damage to her credibility both at home and around the world. senator john mccain said he would work to block her nomination. >> she should have known better because we now know there was information from classified sources, which clearly indicated that this was an al qaeda-affiliated attack as well. the real issue here is not susan rice. it is before, during and after, the total failures this administration engaged in, which has caused the deaths of these four brave americans. >> senator mccain says it would help ambassador rice if she acknowledged she would wrong. lawmakers may be home for

thanksgiving holidays but negotiations to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff are still in motion behind the scenes. nancy pelosi and senator dick durbin are expressing confidence about those attacks, even though there are challenges ahead within their own party. politico reporting congressional democrats are facing internal riffs between progressive and moderates over key issues like dealing with entitlement cuts and the threshold for raising income taxes on the wealthy. still according to a new gallup pole, 65% of americans say the president's going to be seeking bipartisan solutions while 48% are saying the same about the republicans in congress. investors are responding to reports of washington's newfound confidence on reaching a budget deal. the dow climbed 160 points in yesterday's session. for more on this, let's go to cnbc's steve sedgwick live in london. >> reporter: this market has been pummeled since the electric

on concerns about the fiscal cliff, amongst other things. the earning season hasn't been great either. we've fallen 7% since the electric. the last two days we've seen a little reversal of that. the s&p, wide measure, of course, of u.s. stocks has rallied over 2% in the last couple of days. and that is on hope for pragmatism between republicans and democrats. the market having a bit of a respite moving above key technical levels. some companies reporting such as lowe's, tyson food, well praised by the market and getting big gains to the upside if they beat expectations, which very few companies have done in the recent earning season. the good news actually does continue as well. good home sales in the states yesterday. 11.1% is the year-on-year home sales, 2.1% increase over the previous month shy of 4.8 million homes. home builder confidence has been very strong as well. that's two good news stories.

hostess brands, although i've never had a twinkie in my life, it appears they live to fight one more day as negotiations go on today and hope that will avert bankruptcy and keep 18,000 jobs intact. >> you've never had a twinkie in your entire life? how can you report on this story if you've never -- >> never had -- >> i won't get one either if this goes on like this. if we don't have any more produced -- i looked it up. cream-filled junk food, i'm told. >> junk food? junk food? let me tell you, i get 12 of those from 1978 still in my cupboard. i'll send one to you. >> please send me one because i do love a bit of junk food, i must admit. >> joe, on the other hand, has had many. thank you, steve. >> the twinkie shall survive. >> i can see that. as always, shoot us an e-mail at waytooearly@msnbc.com or tweet us and let us know why you're awake. we'll read the best responses later in the show. still ahead on "way too

early" president obama's chicago bears get roughed up by the 49ers in front of a national audience. in fact, they were embarrassed on monday night football. we'll have highlights coming up next in sports, including a remarkable, remarkable debut by quarterback that nobody's heard of. plus, if you're dreading spending time with the family on thanksgiving -- >> who would be doing that? >> i don't know. david letterman may have a solution for you. that clip and a check on the weather -- >> your mother is coming. >> yeah, she's coming.

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welcome back to "morning joe." a shot of times square. >> it's kind of morning. >> a couple of days before thanksgiving. getting ready for black friday, which is now black thursday night. >> some people are already starting to cook. i have to. >> are you cooking? >> yeah, i'm cooking. >> putty the turkey in the microwave this year? >> i'm going to take the stuff out of the turkey before i put it in the oven this time. >> yeah, that's rough. this is the part of show i like the most because this is where mika says, you know what i'm going to do? i'm going to turn this entire block over to you, joe. you trust me. >> because you're needy and you keep complaining. >> i've been practicing this all night. are we ready? this is my time. this is my time. let's get a check on your weather now from nbc meteorologist bill karins. bill? >> that's not bad.

meteorologist is a very difficult word, joe. >> it's a tough word. >> roll tide. very tough. good morning, everyone. the pacific northwest is where we're concerned with travelwise. that's about it. it's looking very nice for everyone heading to their thanksgiving destinations. the exception i-5 on the west coast. drenched yesterday. still raining hard from portland down through eugene and into the m medford area. this big storm, by the way, is not going to move across the country. it's going to weaken and head up into canada. many throughout eastern half of the country will enjoy nearly perfect thanksgiving weather. all the cold air that was in place is going to move out. so, that warm air now in the rockies heading to the midwest will eventually work its way to the east coast. i mean, this is going to be one of the warmest thanksgiving in many places. today's forecast, denver to kansas city to dallas all the way to minneapolis, beautiful sunshine and temperature above average. on the east coast, still lingering clouds, a little breezy. but the weather will slowly improve even there.

here's the busy wednesday travel day. notice the only green on the map which shows where the rain is primarily in the northwest. even there it's lighter. heading through thanksgiving day, the eastern seaboard will see temperature in the 60s in many cases. beautiful weather. people will be playing outdoors on thanksgiving everywhere east of the mississippi. just a few showers there. chicago to kansas city. overall, this forecast is still pretty much an "a" or a-plus for your thanksgiving weather. >> thank you. did you see that game last night? >> i saw the first quarter and chicago could be in trouble. >> they could be in trouble. they were supposed to have a great defense. >> love the bears. >> this kid from nevada, kaepernick. >> you want to do sports? >> why not? monday night football last night, a great match-up between the chicago bears and the san francisco 49ers. these are supposed to be the best teams in football. certainly the nfc. both teams have also starting quarterbacks because of concussions suffered in week ten. first quarter, colin kaepernick

goes deep finding williams down the sidelines, outrunning the defenders 57 yards, dragged down at the goal line. next play, kaepernick hits vernon davis for the first tthd of his career. the rookie quarterback finished with 243 yards and a pair of tds. other side of the ball, jason campbell just had a rough day. he was sacked six times in the game with all six involving 4er linebacker smith. he was unbelievable. the bears could only muster 143 total yards on offense. and the 49ers, that defense, absolutely savaged. they went on to win 32-7. the bears are now 7-3. again, the bears supposed to have one of the best defenses in the nfc. they get completely hammered by a guy starting for his first time, kaepernick. we may have a quarterback controversy in san francisco. now tied with the packers for first in the nfc sports. to college basketball. in our first grade buzzer beater of the year.

butler and marquette game, butler down two points in the final moments but take a look. >> i'm looking. >> if he you make it, you're up three. do you foul? >> i don't. i think fouling brings losing to the equation. doesn't matter now. >> spins out. two-point game. midcourt. three second left. clark shovels it up. he hit it! he hit the shot! >> wow! >> he hit it! >> whoa! that was rodney clark hitting the buzzer-beater. >> amazing. >> a three-pointer to win it. bull dogs -- >> they're crushing him. >> -- go on to maui invitati invitational. more bad news for my red sox. this continues. this doesn't involve fried chicken. american least east got more competitive. blue jays signed former san francisco giant superstar melky cabrera to a two-year deal worth $16 million.

just hours before the cabrera deal the commissioner's office a approved last year's deals involve johnson and mark buehrle. some say free agent josh hamilton might make a good fit. that, of course, depend on whether he wants to play or not. he kind of quit on the texas rangers last year. >> good job with sports. coming up at the top of the hour with "morning joe," the republican chorus continues against susan rice. we'll discuss that with our "morning joe" crew straight ahead. when we come back, we'll huddle around the water cooler where corey booker makes an odd

bet with a follower on twitter. he's at it again. >> wow. >> but he's not saving babies. this is kind of interesting. i'm not sure i don't like this. we'll talk about ill-advised bets on twiter with joe, who knows something about them. [ fishing rod casting line, marching band playing ] [ male announcer ] the rhythm of life. [ whistle blowing ] where do you hear that beat? campbell's healthy request soup lets you hear it... in your heart. [ basketball bouncing ] heart healthy. great taste. mmm... [ male announcer ] sounds good. it's amazing what soup can do. yeah. then how'd i get this... [ voice of dennis ] ...safe driving bonus check? every six months without an accident, allstate sends a check. ok. [ voice of dennis ] silence. are you in good hands? time for citi price rewind. because your daughter really wants that pink castle thing. and you really don't want to pay more than you have to.

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mika, what are we going to be talking about? are we going to be talking about gaza -- >> no. >> -- or saving the american economy from collapse? >> no. >> what do we have next? >> we have lewis again. >> sweet lewis? >> i don't know why. he's been here all night primping -- >> have you seen his bone structure? he has small bone structure like a small bird. enough with the real news let's sent it over to pretty boy for the cooler. >> time to talk about awkward thanksgiving dinners. not as family is as love organize functional as joe. if you dread in-laws this holiday season, david letterman has a solution for you. >> finally a major american company is addressing this

problem for the holidays. >> do you hate the hassles of holiday air travel almost as much as you hate the tedious, being on ward family dinner? announcing united airlines reluctant travel science. for a nominal fee we'll book you on a flight. at the last minute, oh, no, your flight's been canceled. you wanted to be there but what can you do? united airlines, we get it. >> what can you do? >> brilliant! >> i should get that for my parents. >> i love that. >> i'm going to do that. that's actually useful. that's news i can use. >> yeah, that is news you can use. let's change gears. newark mayor cory booker back in the news. on sunday mayor booker threw down a gauntlet with one of his

twitter followers about a discussion over nutrition and school responsibility. one follower wrote, why is there a family today that is, quote, too poor to afford breakfast? are they not already receiving food stamps? mayor booker replied, let's you and i try to live on food stamps in new jersey, obviously a high cost of living, and feed a family for a week or a month. you game? the man accepted the mayor's challenge and the connecticut university of bridgeport offered to referee. the rules avoidclude avoiding accepting food from food or family. >> i like this. >> $1.66 a meal. i don't know if i can live off that. >> actually, i want to see how this happens. we should have him on the show. that's actually -- i like that. >>, yeah i like the challenge. now, while we're on the subject of food, you guys mentioned tin the business segment twinkies isn't going down without a fight.

they're doing a mediation with the bakers union. i thought if that doesn't work out for you, joe, since we both love the twinkies, we have an embalmed twinkie. you can cherish it -- >> i love it. you know what, lou said twinkies weren't going down that easy. can i tell you, the twinkies i eat always go down easy. why are you awake? your crazed texts, tweets next on "way too early" and "morning joe" is just around the corner. [ male announcer ] sponges take your mark.

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i'd like to thank eating right, whole grain, multigrain cheerios! mom, are those my jeans? [ female announcer ] people who choose more whole grain tend to weigh less than those who don't. multigrain cheerios